Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, and speech. Often, babies with cerebral palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children. Other symptoms may include seizures and problems with thinking or reasoning. While symptoms may get more noticeable over the first years of life, underlying problems do not worsen over time.
Rain Man is a 1988 American road comedy-drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive and selfish wheeler-dealer Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, Raymond, an autistic savant whose existence Charlie was unaware of. Morrow created the character of Raymond after meeting real-life savant Kim Peek; his characterization was based on both Peek and Bill Sackter, a good friend of Morrow who was the subject of Bill, an earlier film that Morrow wrote.
My Left Foot is the 1954 autobiography of Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy on 5 June 1932 in Dublin, Ireland. As one of 13 surviving children, Brown went on to be an author, painter and poet.
Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor. Often described as one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2014, Day-Lewis received a knighthood for services to drama.
Christopher Walton Cooper is an American actor. His breakthrough role was as Sheriff July Johnson in the acclaimed Western television miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989). He has appeared in several major Hollywood films including A Time to Kill (1996), October Sky (1999), American Beauty (1999), The Bourne Identity (2002), Seabiscuit (2003), Capote (2005), Syriana (2005), The Kingdom (2007), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), The Town (2010), The Muppets (2011), Live by Night (2016), Cars 3 (2017), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), and Little Women (2019). He won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for Adaptation.
Brenda Fricker is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles. In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Award, earning the award for Best Supporting Actress for the biopic My Left Foot (1989). She also appeared in films such as The Field (1990), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Angels in the Outfield (1994), A Time to Kill (1996), Veronica Guerin (2003), Inside I'm Dancing (2004) and Albert Nobbs (2011).
Jim Sheridan is an Irish playwright and filmmaker. Between 1989 and 1993, Sheridan directed three critically acclaimed films set in Ireland, My Left Foot (1989), The Field (1990), and In the Name of the Father (1993), and later directed the films The Boxer (1997), In America (2003), and Brothers (2009). Sheridan has received six Academy Award nominations for his work.
Christy Brown was an Irish writer and painter whose cerebral palsy allowed him to write or type only with the toes of one foot. His most recognized work is his autobiography, titled My Left Foot (1954). It was later made into a 1989 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Brown.
Hugh O'Conor is an Irish actor, writer, director, and photographer. In 2020, he was listed as number 49 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
There Will Be Blood is a 2007 American epic period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, a silver miner turned oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciarán Hinds, and Dillon Freasier co-star. The film was produced by Ghoulardi Film Company and distributed by Paramount Vantage and Miramax Films.
The 15th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards were announced on 16 December 1989 and given on 16 January 1990.
The 10th Boston Society of Film Critics Awards honored the best filmmaking of 1989. The awards were given in 1990.
Ardmore Studios, in Bray, County Wicklow, is Ireland's oldest film studio.
The 55th New York Film Critics Circle Awards honored the best filmmaking of 1989. The winners were announced on 18 December 1989 and the awards were given on 14 January 1990.
Noel Pearson, a native of Dublin, is a film and theatrical producer.
Roy Frank "RJ" Mitte III is an American actor and producer. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Mitte was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was three. He moved to Hollywood in 2006, and worked with a personal talent manager to find acting opportunities where his disability could educate viewers. After making cameos in sitcoms, he was cast in his breakthrough role as Walter White Jr. on the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad (2008–2013).
Phelim Drew is an Irish actor. His credits include My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989), Into the West (1992), Sharpe's Battle (1995), The Nephew (1998), Angela's Ashes (1999), Bloom (2003), King Arthur (2004), The Escapist (2008), Val Falvey, TD (2009), Ripper Street (2014), Clean Break (2015), The Drummer and the Keeper (2017), Dead Still (2020), Fair City (2021), and Tales from Dún Draíochta (2022).
The Kerry Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, during October / November. The Kerry Film Festival is funded by Kerry County Council, Fáilte Ireland, the Arts Council as well as having corporate sponsorship.
The 24th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 8 January 1990, honored the best filmmaking of 1989.
Phantom Thread is a 2017 American romantic period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, and Lesley Manville, and follows an haute couture dressmaker in 1950s London who takes a young waitress as his muse. It is Day-Lewis's most recent film to date. The film is the first Anderson film shot outside the United States, with principal photography beginning in January 2017 in Lythe, England. It is Anderson's second collaboration with Day-Lewis, after There Will Be Blood (2007), and his fourth collaboration with composer Jonny Greenwood.
